In praise of Truman Capote and Stephen King November 2, 2008

I think I can safely say that I like Stephen King much better as a person than his writing. I mean I really liked the guy whenever I heard his interviews or listened to his audio commentaries.

Doubtlessly, as a long time student and lover of Literature I was taught to dislike anything that is not classic or ‘good’ literature that ‘critics’ admire. Anyway, most of the premises of horror fiction are silly and very implausible. If you ask me what is my favorite horror piece of literature Truman Capote’s true crime (In Cold Blood) laced with his literary coloring got to be somewhere at the top. In cold blood is scary, haunting, disturbing.

It is really devastating how Capote first makes us fall in love with the whole clutter family and then vividly and gradually leads us to their slaughter at the hands of some petty criminals. I think the scariest part of the novel is where Perry Smith actually describes the crime scene, the way they drive their car up to the clutter property in a moonlit night. They quibble whether they should rob that household and then finally jump into it and finally almost out of frustration and anger of not getting what they wanted they decided to kill all members of Clutter family, one by one while all this time in his Christian naivety Mr. Clutter is being polite to them and begging them to leave. I guess I like psychological horror (Like American Psycho : Click to read my review)and not really spiritual horror though TheExorcist would be a good Exception.

Warning: A few spoilers—Just this week I decided to give Stephen King’s short story collection, Night Shift
a go. I really liked some of the short stories, especially ones where there are no evil spirits, monsters lurking around. I also found to my surprise that Stephen King mostly uses New England as his setting. I am a sucker for cold, snow, fog. And Mr. King’s works are full of those descriptions. I absolutely loved the Children of Corn but hated its ending. I loved the story up to the point the guy enters that ancient church. I’ve rarely read something that got my juices flowing that well. The descriptions of their fighting while driving in a car through the never-never land of Nebraskan wilderness, full of never ending corn fields, the sudden crash with a small boy, their stopping in the middle of nowhere to inspect the boy, the realization that the boy was actually killed before he hit the speeding car and the tension that follows later while they are in the car again. Cool stuff.

Another story that I really loved was The Last Rung. It was a perfect mix of adventure, thrill, childhood nostalgia, emotions, horror, sibling love and one big perfect heart break at the end. Go read it.

I am not sure if I want to read more of Stephen King straight away. I tried Bag of Bones once but lost interest. But I will be more open to reading some more of Stephen King’s work that display his ability to scare psychologically, instead of spiritual horror. But anyway, I kind of understand why people call him the King of Horror. It is a title that he rightfully deserves.

Bad news sells: What is so appealing about tragedies and sadness? November 30, 2007

Why all bad news is good news?

 

 

USA: Diabolical government and CIA, Conspiracy theories, illegal immigration from Latinos and Muslims, Neo Imperialism, Freemasons, New World Order, corruption, TERRORISM, racism, poverty, drug trafficking, breaking out of all sorts of illnesses and falling economy.

 

Europe: World Wars, Holocaust, falling birth rates, dying out of White race, moral decadence, loss of values and Christian morals, invasion of immigrants and Muslims, spread of Islam into Europe, crippling social security systems, declining economies, rise of the right wing, xenophobia, rise of anarchy, crime and dictatorships in the Central, Eastern Europe and Russia.

 

Asia, Africa, Arab world and the rest: Huge natural calamities, disasters, death tolls, horrendous corruption, wars, genocide, AIDS, Fundamentalism, Female genital mutilation, Poverty, sex tourism industries for Western people fulfilling their every sexual fantasy including pedophilia, ever looming threats of big scale wars that may erupt any time and maybe engulf the whole world in a Third World War.

 

 

 

I have been trying to find the answer to this question since the time I realized, while reading literature, that the greatest novels considered ”classics” are mostly tragic and sad. Not only that, the authors or artists who happen to have a tragic life or commit suicide often see the sales of their works shoot sky-high, after they’re lowered into the grave. Later while studying media, I realized that anything newsworthy must be ominous. If you have some interest in literature then you may not have necessarily read but would have heard about the great Greek tragedies, Shakespearean tragedies etc.

 

 

The writers who have written extensively end up writing their ”masterpieces” that are tragic. Charles Dickens’ greatest novels are not the likes of Pickwick Papers but David Copperfield. Shakespeare’s tragedies far outweigh the critical praise and popularity of his comedies. Here are two quotes to consider about human love affair with sadness or the romance of sorrow (Despite the ever resounding slogans urging people, ”Hey! You should laugh lots and you should stay happy man!” and ”Don’t worry be happy”):

 

 

 

“For the Great Gaels of Ireland

Are the men that God made mad,

For all their wars are merry

And all their songs are sad.”

From Ballad of the White Horse by G.K. Chesterton.

 

 

And here is the second one

”Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.”

By English poet P.B. Shelley

So…? What’s the idea? Is it a great international conspiracy (or hypocrisy) to urge everyone to be happy but at the same time to be in love with sorrow, secretly?

Kindle- Amazon’s iPod for books. November 29, 2007

I am a nerdy nerdy nerd. I just read a blog post about ”Kindle” and posted a comment as my own review. I never knew Kindle has already kindled the markets! There are already 774 customer reviews at amazon.com!!! Well here you can read>> AMAZON’S KINDLE PAGE. and CNET’S Awesome Review too.

 

 

I know most of you technical new-agers who use Razor thin mobile phones, smart-phones, newest laptops, WiFi devices and of course Ipods are going to puke at the look of Kindle (that looks like a big old calculator). But I am just looking at the paper like look of its screen (in the pictures). And I am swooning….. But well, here is my own humble review to kindle the Kindle talk:

 

 

I love digital technologies to help readers. The main problem with reading books etc. on phone, palm tops is the battery life and small screen. Besides, those readers cannot be all that great because reading software is part of the device designed to do dozens of other things.

 

 

Despite my poverty, I have a Palm Tungston E2. It offers much longer battery life, almost- what they say- 7 hours (i think in reality its more like 4-5 hours). But even this I find quite annoyingly short. Second, issue is of course with the screen. Even a small paperback has much larger page. I hardly use it for reading now…

 

 

And of course, traditional books are so handy, come in different sizes and formats, no batteries to charge, the joys of flicking through the pages etc. So, if I have to have some digital solutions it has to come real close to the book. I read Kindle offers more than 7,000 page turns of battery life. This is awesome. The screen has a book like black and white look. And it has no other distracting functions.

 

 

 

As for reading New York Times on your phone for free, I guess, you still have to pay for the amount of data you download? Other than that, I cannot say more because I don’t own it. And as I am in New Zealand, I am sure I will be locked out of its functionalities and downloading functions…just as I bemoan not being able to enjoy great radio services like XM and Sirius…

 

 

Epilogue—Sony’s reader seems to be the real competitor. I also remember Franklin’s bookman book cards (and readers) had done serious work into marketing portable book readers but that never really took off in a big way. I think Franklin people could have introduced something like Kindle. But well…

Censorship: Are there any taboos left for novels and books? November 28, 2007

WARNING:

 

 

 

Mature content please DO NOT read further if easily offended for personal or religious reasons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the history of novel writing, the 20th century has seen the revolution as fas as breaking the taboos is concerned. Novels containing taboo themes (openly challenging religious, political authorities and their systems, explicit adultery, incest, illicit sexual affairs), taboo words (fuck, cunt, shit plus so many other swear words and phrases… though it remains interesting how some words are gaining taboo status like nigger, fag, dyke.. READ Wikipedia article on Profanity), taboo subject matter (explicit, graphic and gratuitous violence, rape, killing, necrophilia) etc. were published. Here are some of the ground breaking novels and widely recognized as the ”firsts” and pioneers in their groundbreaking or taboo breaking. All titles contain links to their Amazon.com page where you can read other reviews or buy the book.

 

 

 

 

 

1.) Ulysses by James Joyce. First published in 1922 in Paris, banned in UK and USA. Contains irreverent or obscene scoffing of religion, explicit sexuality, fetishes, obscene language or expletives, scatological material and possibly coprophilia.

 

 

 

2.) Lady Chatterly’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence. Written and published privately in 1928 in Florence, Italy. Contains graphic and taboo, adulterous sexual affair shown in a sort of positive and gratuitous light, four letter expletives.

 

 

 

3.) Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller. Published in Paris in 1934. Ground breaking in its frankness and directness of describing sexual affairs, sexual intercourse, genitalia etc. No novel had gone to such limits before in portraying graphic sex. Usually critic opinions range from ”trash” to ”one of the greatest novels” of 20th century.

 

 

 

 

4.) City and the Pillar by Gore Vidal. Published in 1948. Known as the first frank ”gay” novel that has a love affair between two young men as its plot. Gore Vidal often reminisces how even The New York Times had refused to review the novel because it was considered immoral or objectionable bythe ”liberal” newspaper at that time.

 

 

 

 

After and between the publication of these novels, so many writers and novels touched upon taboo subjects. Too many to name or remember probably. I would mention just one that stood out in 1990s and could be considered precursor of the sorts the modern shock novelists are writing today.

 

 

 

 

 

5.) American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. Published in 1991. This novel packed– I suppose, with the apparent intention to shock and sell– graphic violence, rape, sexual violence against women, gratuitous killing, Sadism, necrophilia and even cannibalism.

 

 

 

 

But here is one question: What you think remains taboo today?? My personal reading of American Psycho was that, after a while you get bored with this genre. Maybe that’s the reason these are not categorized as classics. Now these novels are quite generic though they do sell well at times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is second question: Please mention books and writers that I omitted and you think they must be there in the list. Also, give me reasons why they’re taboo breakers? You can nominate your taboo books from any language, country or culture as long as you give me good references to the work.

It’s not the Muslims but it’s the Mexicans Stupid! And say no to Swiss Cheese. November 17, 2007

Ok, this is further progression of my blog posts that started with Mark Steyn’s Book, America Alone’s review on my blog, which as you may already know (or can know looking at the recent posts) led to further discussion/debate on Muslims, Immigration, Xenophobia and the so called conservative writers, politicians who are shouting ”deport all the illegal immigrant now!!!” slogans.

 

I also happened to see a detailed interview with Michele Malkin on C-Span, conducted by Brian Lamb. Of course, the basic points she raises are valid. Criminals (Immigrants or American born citizens) must not have the freedom to roam the streets so they can commit their horrible crimes. But Michele Malkin just like her brother in brain & spirit, Mark Steyn and other little xenophobic cry babies in Western Europe seem to link all things bad and criminal with immigrants, legal or illegal. So, Michele Malkin goes on and on and yet…. on about MUSLIM immigrants. Mark Steyn’s book too is also all about how Muslim immigrants are taking over the West.

 

But Immigration, especially into USA is hardly of made up of predominantly Muslim origins. Mexicans by far form the one big gigantic tide of immigration into America. I just read an amazing article, ”A Blended People”>> (CLICK HERE)<< from The Economist. This short article- which taught me more about Mexican immigration into America than anything I ever set my eyes upon- is a book review of ”Mongrels, Bastards, Orphans, and Vagabonds: Mexican Immigration and the Future of Race in America”

 

 

After reading that article, I indeed realize that the biggest immigration wave into America has always been the Mexican one and will always will be by the sheer design of God’s geography (It should serve as a lesson and an epiphany for Republican Jesus people). Latinos are the second largest racial/ethnic group in USA today, nudging Afro-Americans to the third place in 2001 for the first time in American history. Most of the Latinos now are well Americanized or at least well settled American citizens. This is the single most powerful phenomenon changing the American landscape for good or as some might grumble, bad.

 

 

 

Scram the Swiss Cheese– The most important point is that Immigration is America’s destiny and will always remain so. Immigration is America’s power, Immigration is America’s soul, Immigration is American history and is America’s future. This is what sets America apart from the rest of the ”immigrant countries” (with Possible exceptions of Canada and Australia) who are tiny ethnic countries and get jolted by waves of migrants, leading to mass xenophobic hysteria. This mass hysteria- much exploited by sad little political parties who have nothing original or useful to talk about- produces Michele Malkin like stupid myopic vision. I was reading another Economist article that noted how in Switzerland ***The incident happened in Italy as the comment below notes,” >>Click Here<< for related story, this was a factual error made by several related articles opened in tens of tabs of my browser, but the argument stands, unaltered, read my response to the comment below*** when a Romanian gypsy raped and murdered a Swiss (read Italian) woman the Swiss (read Italian) masses demanded deportation of all Romanians from Switzerland (read Italy). I mean, crime is bad but irrational panic is well, irrational. ***Further Note: I have just discovered how that factual mistake was made, I was actually reading this article as well ”Fear of foreigners- Denmark and the far right” (CLICK HERE). In this article there is a passing mention of the rise of anti-immigration right wing parties in other parts of Europe. Switzerland gets a special mention, and so does Italy in the very next paragraph. As I mentioned, my point really was how right wing elements exploit a situation and this is very much same all over Western Europe today from Denmark, Switzerland, Austria to Italy. In any case, if my remarks on Switzerland’s xenophobia sounded very unwarranted, here is what the above on Danish elections article (dated November 17) says about modern Switzerland:

 

 

 

 

 

“Europe is still in a paroxysm of anti-immigration anxiety, if not downright hostility. Last month the Swiss People’s Party won the best result of any Swiss party since 1919, with a hateful campaign that included a poster of several white sheep kicking a black sheep off a field made of a Swiss flag. It also produced a video (“Heaven or Hell”) contrasting typical Swiss scenes with others of violence, drug use and foreigners. The party’s leader has promised referendums on deporting foreigners if they commit crimes (even juveniles, and the criminal’s families might be thrown out too), as well as a ban on building mosque minarets.”

 

Now, Let’s say if that rape was committed by a French Swiss in Switzerland, would there be calls for kicking out all French Swiss to France? Are there no rapists, drug dealers among the Swiss (or Italians for that matter) nationals? Or they’re all busy making Swiss Cheese, Cuckoo Clocks and providing secret banking for the Billions of $$$$$$$$ of the most corrupt third world leaders who are also mass embezzlers, murders, rapists, genocidal demons. How come for years and years Swiss nation’s morality and conscience never told them to ask their politicians and government to stop providing secret banking facilities for blood money from the third world? Once again, maybe the Swiss were too busy making cheese. Swiss hypocrisy is indeed much loftier than their Alps…

 

But America is different from these pathetic little socialist countries most of whom were happy to colonize the third world for loot when they got a chance but now want to shut their doors on the ”third world immigrants”. In contrast America still is a free world, the land of opportunity where Individual is the king. America is the new world. America absorbs new imagination, new blood and turns it into Americana.

 

 

This is what I have learned from years of reading and listening to people’s personal experiences. When people go to Canada, Australia, UK, Sweden, New Zealand (I live here and know it very well) etc. they form a multi- cultural environs, clusters, groups, ethnic schools for their children, ethnic food stores, they desperately plant the seeds of their own language, culture amidst their progeny. AND before people from these aforementioned ”immigrant countries” start smiling and say, Yeah that’s right, we’re multi-cultural, let me tell you, IT IS SAD. Nothing is more depressing and puke inducing that ” LEGAL Immigrants” coming into a new country, LEGALLY and try to form foreign cultural, culinary, lingual, social ghettos completely insulated and protected from everything that belongs to their new ”home”. I often hear stories how these ”immigrants” are homesick and nostalgic about their homeland even after years of legally living, working, earning money in the new country. Their eyes fill with tears and heart with pain to remember their mother country or fatherland. Why o Why then they just can’t go back?? What stops them? It’s the MONEY right? But I am definitely digressing so I will save it for another time.

 

In contrast, the immigrants to America are most likely to get Americanized, thanks in large part to American capitalism, strong emphasis on individualism and little dependence on social security (which exists in other Western countries like a crippling disease and addiction that even immigrants often get so dependent on) For these reasons, immigrants to America have to fight (work) for survival and personal gains. Sure they may get into extreme consumerism and all too but eventually they end up shaking off their cultural, language baggage because America rubs off on you too fast once you’ve reached its shores. This is the reason that even Latinos’ kids shed the language of the countries of their origin and speak English as their first, if not their only language. Not so with other ”multi-cultural” countries. I have noticed that the 2nd and sometimes even 3rd generation immigrants retaining their tribal ties as evident in many European countries, Germany (The Turks) UK and even in Canada and Australia, NZ too.

 

 

Let’s end this post with Illegal Immigration. It’s easy for people like Michele Malkin to scream at the ”illegals” because she happened to be the kid of parents who came to America ”legally”. I’m sure Filipinos immigrants do form huge number of ”illegals” all over the world, including the US. The truth is ”legal” immigration is simply impossible to match the real human impulse to migrate to other lands for better life. Most people won’t wait for years for their applications to be accepted (or rejected after years of ”being processed”) Vikings never applied for Visas, if you reflect on it. Even during the age of colonialism European traders never applied for business visas or competed with each other as per the principles of free and fair trade. They brought military, guns and canons with them. They slaughtered everyone who did not give them entry or visa. Today’s illegal immigrants seem much more civilized to me, they meekly enter a rich country and work their butt off for years in modern day slavery mode without any rights or protections or security available to native nationals.

 

 

And there will always be unskilled migrants who WILL NEVER be able to migrate legally. BUT THEY ARE NEEDED. Legal immigration proponents say, ”only skilled migrants” are needed in America. They all forget in the old times most migrants (their own forefathers) who came from Europe to North America were mostly unskilled immigrants. They sailed to North America from Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Poland and every other God-forsaken land in Europe. But now people would say, ”The times are different today. We need only skilled immigrants” But this is not so. Middle class Americans may not like poor ”wetbacks” but the economy and businesses need them for their very survival as another Economist article >>>>>‘‘Illegal but Useful- Where would Arkansas be without immigrants?’<<<<<reports.

 

 

Tons of such examples can be drawn from several different American states. For these very reasons, I personally support amnesty to long settled immigrants. Because they’ve certainly not been here for years by stealing food, raping women, mugging people on the streets. They’ve survived and supported their families by very hard work, working very long hours and doing the most needed rugged jobs that Americans won’t do. And in so doing these immigrants have proved their mettle and usefulness to the American society, economy and Americana. They deserve amnesty and so do their children most of whom were born in America.

In the end, it’s all about human survival on both ends of the immigration bridge regardless of crying foul and playing the blame games on TV shows.

 

 Links to interesting further readings **Added on 24th of November** 

 

 1.)  **CLICK HERE TO READ** The Los Angeles Times article by Joel Stein, ”My taco with Tancredo– The anti-immigration candidate is all for assimilation, but he sure loves authentic Mexican food.”

 

2.)  **CLICK HERE TO READ** The recent New York Times editorial on America’s immigration crisis, ” The Immigration Wilderness”.

Review of ”America Alone- The End of the world as we know it” by Mark Steyn October 20, 2007

 

 

 

‘**NOTE**– I noticed I became ”Reader of the day” on Mark Steyn’s website for making him reminisce his Hollinger days when despite his lack of formal education as a journalist Hollinger group launched his career because he had the foxy element that is usually good for ratings.

 

 

Anyhow, it is not about personal attacks and I want to stick to his work, in this case his book. I want to make a special mention that the ideas brought up in his book are not even original in the least. How easy it must have been to write this book… Just collect recent articles from conservative or right wing publications, read speeches, pamphlets of pathetic little right wing political parties all around Europe… and off you go stunning the world. At the back of the book Michelle Malkin (Another neurotic, xenophobic story, but we won’t go there and leave this Islamophobic Philipino-American alone…) writes, ”America Alone will open your eyes. You can’t afford to look away.” She also writes, ”Steyn strips away intellectual rust and PC rot to uncover the writing on the wall.” I think she would hit Bull’s eye if she had written, ”…to uncover the urine on the wall. And it’s his own urine.”

 

 

First of all, this mawkish rave about this book is ONLY FOUND in the so called Conservative media (or writers) who also seem to be the only ones who took care to review this book positively. The mainstream media- New York Times, Washington Post, L.A. Times, The Guardian etc..- just ignored this book as trash (or at least I could not find any reviews by them)Mark Steyn website also mentions that Mr. Joe Lieberman is clutching this book to his chest as dearly as the holy Bible (The Old Testament only) and giving it away to all other American Senators. Funny. I guess he also has gold inscription on his copy saying, ”An idiot’s guide to become even a bigger idiot.” This all rave made me laugh so hard and it continues to do so (guess what I am doing now). As I said, these ideas have been bandied about by each and everyone for such a long time.

 

 

One of my favorite authors and THE master essayist Gore Vidal talked about this dying out and other demographics of the White race DECADES ago as passing remarks in his essays. Please read it again, DECADES AGO. But Vidal never wrote a full essay or a book on the subject because he knew that there are about a million more real alarming threats to human race, peace, prosperity and freedom that we face every day.

 

 

I wanted to write a review on this little red book (red for Republican or Red Maple Leaf ?…) on Amazon.com but they would let you write a review only if you have bought books from them. Hmmm.. So well, I am writing this review on my blog. This book is a hot best seller now and many people have gotten carried away by it. Out of 5 stars I give it 2 stars for motley of interesting facts and some humor (P.J. O’ Rourke has been doing the humorous conservative writing for Decades), the rest is fluffy cheap journalism. You may say it is FOX NEWS IN PRINT.

 

 

Many mainstream liberals have refused to discuss the book because it is simply too childishly crass. And I can see why. Mark Steyn presumes that just because he can hurl racist, sexist and cultural insults, he gets to be pro-American. Not only this book reeks of xenophobia but also notice cheap comments about ”European slatternly women” on pages 67,68. What Steyn seems to be saying is that all White women who have anything to do with Islam or Muslims are SLUTS. Also, he mentions Luxemborg as a country slightly bigger than a rec room. How would he feel if he is ridiculed with jokes about his Canadian roots (Often delightful favorite American national pastime) and also about his pseudo Frenchie connections through Quebec (he even confesses his love for French food and naked French women who are angelic as opposed to the Slatternly ones?) Bad taste. Cheap.

 

The Demographics of Europe and Muslims– Well, this seems to be the founding (read foundering) pillar of this book and Steyn has used it as an interesting scare-mongering tactic. In short, he opines, the Whites of Europe are not making enough babies whereas Muslims all over the world and in Europe are breeding like nightmarish green bunnies (i.e. green for Islam) So, he says, naturally in due time, Europe will become ”Eurabia” where Muslims will call the shots. It is such an infantile and pathetic logic. He makes Muslim birth rates sound like some kind of Mars Attacks Hollywood flick, where all these little green evil souls will take over the world like millions of Locusts devour everything in their way. Not so.

 

To begin with, I have long wondered about Europe’s falling birth rates and that is a concern, especially for Eastern Europe. But it is not some kind of demographic suicide. I believe in Western Europe it simply exists because of individual selfishness, where people want all their time, money and resources for themselves whereas in Eastern cultures people always want to make plenty of babies and also want to see their kids, grandchildren grow. Not to mention the contraceptives are not only in little supply in many poor conservative countries ( ANYWAY, NOT ALL OF THEM ARE MUSLIM COUNTRIES) but are shunned for social, religious and personal reasons. But I don’t think Europeans will just die out. As The Economist once mentioned, this greying of Europe is not a bad thing if people can have healthier older age, can delay their retirement age, stay more productive, creative and have better standard of living than those who starve in the Eastern countries and watch their tons of children starve as well (forget about proper upbringing, education etc.)

 

On the other hand I am sure, in Western Europe birth rates among Whites will pick up sometime, when they realize things are going real bad. At the moment, the Eastern Europe is a real concern but it is not that they’re indifferent to making babies but they are just very aware of the pain they would end up causing every baby that they bring into a nightmarish world they are living in now: corruption, crushing poverty, crippling violence, crime, civil wars, unemployment (all this does not encourage wise men and women to have babies). I believe- as Steyn himself notes regarding the close relationship between high birth rates and robust market economies- that when economies in these countries become better (a good possibility with EU enlargement) their birth rates will pick up.

 

Steyn sees the world population growth from a stupidly bipolar vision: Muslim and non Muslim. He totally, disregards huge populations of non Muslims in Africa, Latin and Central America, East and South East Asia and that huge country called India whose population is about 82% Hindu. Steyn also makes a stupid blanket statement in the book saying Delhi’s (India’s capital city) population itself is declining. Someone should go to Delhi and any of India’s big (or even small) cities and see for themself the truth of people inhabiting a landscape like termites do timber!!!

In any case, it is the OVER- POPULATION that kills and cripples people and turns them into insects without education, resources, skills to survive… Something, I believe West European kids will Never face. How lucky a West European kid is not to have 5 other siblings who will only make life hell for everyone. If Europe has a population growth rate of some of the tribal nations Steyn fearfully mentions, it will turn into Eurabia much sooner than low birth rates will ever cause it to, if ever. So, shut up Steyn, You’re just the Hollinger media group’s foxy bitch.

 

No special, unusual and shocking threats from Muslim immigrants–

Steyn makes a big deal about Muslim immigrants raising hell in pretty European cities and Europeans cowering in fear. Total Bull-shit.***Added on 24th November, Check this out: CLICK TO Read this Blog post, ”NOT SO DIFFERENT” from a British blogger about Muslims in London***. As for European cowering before Muslims, what about French government’s militaristic stubbornness outlawing the wearing of Muslim head-scarves in schools even when many Muslim girls themselves wish to wear them? Interestingly schoolchildren can still wear small crosses/crucifixes. No multiculturalism or Western freedom of choice there.

 

 

Of course, Muslim immigrants (like any other immigrants) may have resentment because of bad integration, racism, discrimination, NO JOBS. And yes, when things like Paris riots happen, it is sad. But is it not the same kind of thing that goes on in USA vis-a-vis its former slave populations, today known as the Black or Afro Americans? My point is that, such anti- social, destructive or criminal behavior occurs only when there are inhuman disparities and schisms in the economic and social fields. Other than that, Muslim Immigrants may not be worse than any other immigrants from non Muslim countries that refuse to integrate with their new home country even when they’re given the opportunities.

 

I think Muslim immigrants have done a marvelous job integrating within the American society. Many of them actually, came to American shores as refugees: Iraqis, Iranians, Kurds, Palestinians etc. They themselves were the victims of horrendous persecution at the hands of neurotically violent and persecutory Islamist forces in their home countries.

As for religious fundamentalism, it is bad news in any part of the world. People make fun of Muslims being opposed to any modernity and they got Amish folks at home, people make fun of Muslims for having heaps of wives and children and they forget the Mormons at home, people talk about Muslim suicide bombers and they forget about Timothy McVeigh. Besides they forget to condemn NATO bombers dropping bombs over Wedding parties in Afghanistan mistaking them for terrorists, killing innocent children, women and old men.

 

They forget, they forget, they forget. They also forget and refuse to remember that both Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden were American (CIA etc.) tag team partners during The Cold War. If Cold war had lasted a bit longer than it did, you could bet your American dollar that Osama Bin Laden would get honorary American citizenship by now. But they forget and this is why Mr. Gore Vidal aptly called the USA as the ”United States of Amnesia”.

 

Please don’t get me wrong after reading this review. Though I am not American, I am pro-American. I do believe that America is the only country in the world who will carry the torch of human freedom in the world and it should. I just hate diatribe built around misinformation like Mark Steyn’s book. People like that are the ones who actually, do a great deal of harm by destroying American goodwill in the world. They also forget that all societies are not like Vietnam. You can’t bomb them and then suppose they will never seek revenge. If killing of innocent American civilians in mad terrorist attacks can enrage Americans. Why should it be assumed that American bombs that end up killing civilians anywhere in the world will stay unaccounted for?

 

 

Does an Afghani or Iraqi mother love her children any less than an American mother? Think again.

 

 

I believe the most important thing we need is tolerance (respecting as well as leaving each other alone), spread of prosperity, education, employment, trade in the Muslims countries and societies. As Steyn himself notes, Malaysia is one Muslim country that can be considered prosperous. Though in his blind- ”all Muslims are shit”- faith he gives all credit for Malaysia’s prosperity to its Chinese population. He forgets to mention that Malaysian Muslims don’t go around the world exploding bombs. So at least there are Muslim nations that do not breed terrorists. I believe it is because they’re not threatened by any foreign military or controlled by some blood sucking multi- national corporations. Their sovereignty, sense of honor and self- determination is not hurt. That I think is something that Mark Steyn should read up on. But maybe he already knows that. Maybe Western- Muslim animosity (real and imagined) is not only something he just reports on but it’s something he passionately promotes. It’s his business. It’s all about the ratings… Sad.

On books (book buying rather), Fakers and how it feels to have your testicles removed. September 21, 2007

Picture: There are some people I would love to strangle… but then there maybe people who want to strangle me…. The latter threat kills the former urge…

I am still on ”vacation”.. Umm no. I am on 360 quarantine. partial quarantine?… Well, simply and honestly put I am engrossed in more and more things, including some useless, life sucking, stressful events that require so much time and energy. It is a part of life. But I would rather fight my demons than be on the internet, gulp beer or coffee and pretend the world does not exist. I am no escapist though I am not fond of fighting forever either. lol. We’ll see.

 

This blog-post is not about recounting some great adventures but only to update briefly on my life (the only bits I want to reveal, I do have copyright over my life, including the fact that I pee in shower. But then who doesn’t?) and some thoughts that crossed my mind. So here we go:

Book buying binge– I have no idea where it came from. I am obsessive compulsive (a point often made in my blogs) and also extremely impulsive. I am a book lover, of serious, grave, ‘classic’, sombre, educative, provocative, intellectual, informative books; fiction or non fiction. But I always borrowed books from library. And let me boast I have, in this wonderful city of Christchurch, New Zealand, probably one of the BEST PUBLIC LIBRARY networks in the world. I know, rarely anybody in NZ reads my blog (most of active internet creatures that I keep on befriending are North Americans and British crooks, which I am very comfortable with because I AM interested in them) But I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Christchurch City Council that runs, maintains and constantly upgrades these libraries and their extensive services.

 

I am in the gypsy mode, not knowing where I will reside forever and call that place home. Honestly, maybe I would never like to reside anywhere and will keep moving in my life, i.e. whenever I have the freedom. I will not talk of this more. Let’s come to the books. Hmmm.. so yeah, this almost supernatural impulse hit me. I was on NZ’s online trading site (local version of Ebay) and I started buying second hand books from all over NZ, mostly ‘classics’ of English literature but basically anything from Complete works of Shakespeare, Gore Vidal, Paul Theroux and also bits of Thomas Harris (I just spelled him as Robert Harris and made correction, showing this is not my usual terrain….do I hear Hannibal chattering his teeth?) This book buying madness was true to my obsessive compulsive nature. Despite my poverty I have amassed about $400 of second hand books. Some of them in very new and awesome condition, others musty, tatty and well browned. I enjoyed welcoming all of them as they came to me, one by one, from all over New Zealand.

 

But here is the thing. In the last 3 weeks, I have been so obsessed with this binge that I hardly read a single book. This is in contrast to my library borrowing days when I often did read at least a couple of books every week. lol But still, these books are here for my perusing and perused they will be. That’s a promise. The other two subjects of this blog revolve around this 3 week book buying binge.

Fakers- This happened yesterday. Quite a few books that I bought online were from Christchurch sellers and I went to their places to pick them up. I bid on 3 books on American politics (Iran-Contra affair, Memoirs of Ronald Reagon and Bob Woodward’s book on the first gulf war and the inside workings of Pentagon, Bush (the senior) administration). So I went to this guy’s house. I knock on the door. No reply. It is 7:30pm and is already dark. There is complete silence around me save the occasional cars whispering past the house, on the road. I knock some more. No reply. I get impatient. I get out my cell and ring his phone. He picks up. A very polite and civilized voice. I tell him I’m outside his door. The door is opened by a handsome man with a very warm, broad smile and twinkling, intelligent eyes. We exchange hellos.

 

He hands me the books, I put money on his palm and am about to go. He asks me with a warm, friendly smile, ”Just curious, why do you want all these books on America?” I say, ”Ummm.. I am very interested in politics and America. That’s all.” I do have plans to go for American studies sometime in future but I choose not to reveal this and depart. But he beams and adds, ”Me too! I love America. I am interested in all their presidents. I was studying about America about 10 years back. That’s when I bought these books. O, you must read this one about Nixon. I love it.” I appreciate his feedback, ”Yeah? Cool. I will read it as soon as I can. So, you like the Nixon one huh?” He beams more, ”Yeah! yeah! I love Nixon.” My jaw kinda drops, my very tired eyes twitch more and in a confused, tired and husky voice I manage to utter, ”You…. LIKE?…Nixon??.” His smile becomes a bit insecure but retains the warmth, ”Yep… yep. I like Nixon.” I give it a thought for two seconds and say, ”Ok…?..”

 

Then I left and while I drove back home I wondered if there really are people who actually like Nixon? This really amused me. I thought I would Google this unknown phenomenon, especially spread to Kiwis (New Zealander) who generally hate anything that Republican America represents (Let’s not get into the King of Watergate, I am not going to insult or challenge your intelligence and am deliberately obscure because if you don’t know what I am talking about, don’t read further.)

 

I take a look at the books. Very nice, hardbacks. Almost in new conditon, considering they are at least 10 years old! I go over their table of contents. Something strikes me. NONE OF THEM is about Nixon… not even partially. I bought (the comments) ,”Read that one about Nixon” thing because actually I did bid on one book about Nixon and I was confused that it was from him. It wasn’t. He was just faking intelligence and understanding of America and American politics. I mean…. not even dressing up partial understanding…. but faking it from the core to the exterior facade. This is comparable to someone not knowing the difference between Bush and bush. You know? How can people be so… well… empty?.. Fake…?

 

As for me, as I was telling some other friend, I can be proud of the fact that I never fake. I never dressed up my reality before both my online or offline friends that I am poor. I am a loser. And sometimes I may not say it directly but you do know that I am a psycho.

My balls removed because I cannot afford (or am shy of) broadband internet– This story also is related to my book
buying binge. The very last book that I bid on obsessively was Russka by Edward Rutherword. A vast historical novel about Russia and its history. I was leading the bid to the last minute. It was a hardback in excellent new condition. I could get it for as cheap as $6 (including postage). At the very last minute I got an email. I though, ”Voohoo! I won it!” I used my crawling dial up internet to check my email that told me I was outbid by someone else by 50 cents and I need to make a fresh bid within one minute. I was stunned and hurriedly typed the website address. My dial-up took its crawling time and revealed the page to me in about 30 seconds. I click ”bid” and new page emerges as if a cockroach is sauntering from one shit-pile to another. The page opens and it tells me that my bid cannot be placed because the auction has been won by another bidder called, ”Sexybitch”. I fought back tears of frustration. I never felt such gnawing helplessness in my life since my very young days.

 

Probably I went through similar feelings when as a kid of 6 some older boys would repeatedly peel my shorts down and laugh in groups at the look of my naked butt and the wee-wee. I wanted to stop them but I could not… and it happened so suddenly that I could not check it in real time. And once the harm was done, it was done forever. I felt so…. emasculated as in having my testicles chopped off.

 

Update and afterword- Broadband internet in NZ has been expensive and heavily capped. I hate all capped things that limit my freedom. I don’t want broadband and then some email telling me I exceeded my limit. Plus, they need one year contract and I am a gypsy. But well, just found an ISP that slows users down to dial up once the cap is exceeded. And there is $100 fine for breaching contract. It sounds reasonable. Maybe I will go broad. I won’t let any Sexybitch beat me by 50 cents. This is not to be tolerated.

The Romance of adolescent years. August 12, 2007

Picture: Pretty Megan Follows (in 1985) as the orphan girl Anne Shirley; aka, Anne of Green Gables, Anne with the ”e” and ”Carrots”

Beginning of this weekend was a wonderful disovery of Anne of Green Gables when I decided to watch Anne of Green Gables DVD of the wonderful 1985 movie/TV adaptation of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s book. This movie was made, aptly, in Canada by CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) in conjunction with other national broadcasters, PBS of America and ZDF of Germany.

 

 

 

I had heard a lot about Anne of Green Gables and even seen bits of some of the TV adaptations of the series of Anne books but never really got into it. I never read the book or completely knew the plot or story. I was aware that it was set in idyllic Prince Edward Island and lots of people with romantic disposition swooned over it. But after watching the series I realized how charming it really is. Moreover, as I trained my eyes on the book, I find it is full of beautiful writing, sweeping emotions, and wonderful humor. What else? ROMANCE. Yeah. So, I will try to read at least the first 3 of the Anne books in the near future. Great stuff.

 

 

 

This leads me to conclude I am overwhelmingly attracted to the well written stories of childhood years with all the ADVENTURES, QUIRKS, DISCOVERIES and ROMANCE. Anne of Green Gables resonates with the same strain of charming writing about young folks as portrayed in my favourite books: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Adventures of Tom Sawyer, To Kill a Mockingbird and to some extent Gone with the Wind. So, I encourage you to dip into some of this stuff and delight in it.

 

 

 

For now, I am posting a collage (Anne/ Gilbert romance) of some of the scenes from Anne of Green Gables’ 1985 TV adaptation which captures the magic of the book.

 

 

Gilbert teases Anne of Green Gables on her first day in school.

Anne ignores and Gilbert persists….

Gilbert calls her ”Carrots” because of her red hair (that she is really ashamed of/she wants ”Raven Black” hair) …Moreover, Gilbert gives her the tug.

Short tempered Anne gets mad.

She breaks a slate over Gilbert’s head.

 

This is at the very end of the movie, LOTS of things have occured and LOTS of water has gone under the bridge. Gilbert comes to Anne across a vast expanse of green grass, riding on a black horse and gives her a good news. He again calls her ”Carrots” and Miss. Anne Shirley is angry no more.

 

 Anne’s god- mother, guardian and best friend Marrila wonders how come she warmed up to Gilbert and Anne replies. Here is a sweet original dialogue from the book:

 

 

 

“I didn’t think you and Gilbert Blythe were such good

 

friends that you’d stand for half an hour at the gate

 

talking to him,” said Marilla with a dry smile.

 

“We haven’t been–we’ve been good enemies. But we

 

have decided that it will be much more sensible to be

 

good friends in the future. Were we really there half an

 

hour? It seemed just a few minutes. But, you see, we have

 

five years’ lost conversations to catch up with, Marilla.”

Is genius/ creativity a form of madness? August 4, 2007

Picture: A shiny sliver of mad moon shines over a dark, gloomy landscape.

Thanks to my 360 pal Sgt. Ruthledge’s blog, ”Creative genius- destructive demons” for initiating the idea of madness/depression and its link to creative genius. This theme has always captivated my own thoughts. In fact reading short biographies of mad writers, artists is one of my favourite activities. lol. So, needless to say his blog induced a hefty comment from me that I am copy pasting here in this post. The idea is to introduce little introduction of some of ”mad” geniuses and see that every genius or original thinker had his or her dark or at least odd demons. The stories of these lives are not only unnerving but also at times, heart- breaking. Sgt. himself mentions a great deal about the tragic life of Sylvia Plath, who like many mad or tormented artists committed suicide.

Sgt. had asked three questions in his post:

1) Do you think the creative artist and destructive demon necessarily go together?

2) Being public figures, it is a given that celebrities and other famous persons will receive more than their share of attention. Do you think their opinions are worth more than others outside their own field of expertise or fame?

3)What famous genuises, artists, intellectuals, or celebrities can you name that were dogged or destroyed by personal demons?

Piqued by these questions my brain which was in trance of oodles of coffee produced this comment:

Your questions.

1.) Having written the above paragraph though, I admit, it is necessary for creative people to be mad or odd or different. And a TINY number of people with real mental aberrations (as mentioned above) do go on to produce works of dazzling originality and creativity. William Styron (author of Sophie’s Choice and Confessions of Nat Turner) said, “The good writing of any age has always been the product of someone’s neurosis.” And as if to confirm the same he wrote a little book that became very popular, ”Darkness Visible” in which he recounted his own encounters with dark clinical depression and consequent hospitalization, recovery.

Important point to state here is that FIRST someone has to tame their ”madness” or odd way of thinking in order to create and SECOND be lucky enough to be noticed and published by others. In other words there may be a thousand cases of very destructive and painful manic depressive illness but only 5 or 10 would become real artists of lasting value. The same is true with any other tormented soul with known or unknown madness. The great French writer Gustave Falubert advised, ”Be regular and orderly in your life so that you may be violent and original in your work.”

2.) Opinion of artists and celebrities matters to an extent. But so does anyone else’s: audience, readers, critics. Indeed a genius or a great artist or a celebrity is so called because OTHERS recognize it and appreciate their talents. Realistically, without the patrons and fans artists would not exist. Anyone can CLAIM he or she can write like or better than Shakespeare or John Steinbeck, William Faulkner, Byron, Pushkin etc. It sounds kind of an affront to real artistic genius but RECOGNITION is vital. But on the other hand, THE ONES, will be recognized sooner or later. Unfortunately, some masters of their art are recognized or ”re-discovered” posthumously.

3.) Well that’s a fun question to answer. I believe almost ALL creative geniuses were odd or mad in some way or another. Of course very popular ones have already been mentioned. I would repeat their names and add some others that come to my mind:

Van Gough, Mozart, contemporary Russian music composer and the other great writer: Tchaikovsky and Fyodor Dostoevsky, the latter had a kind of Epilepsy that brought him both dangerous seizures and ecstatic epiphanies. Wikipedia mentions that they both met only once. Someone noted a similarity between their work and remarked: “With a hidden passion they both stop at moments of horror, total spiritual collapse, and finding acute sweetness in the cold trepidation of the heart before the abyss, they both force the reader to experience those felings, too.”

And yet some more!: Byron (”mad, bad and dangerous”), Hans Christian Anderson, Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway, Graham Greene, James Joyce (in whose mind the line between genius and madness got so blurred that it was difficult and annoying to tell which was which!?), Sylvia Plath (her only Novel Bell Jar is semi-autobiographical and is a realistic portrait of her own ever looming depression), Carson McCullers.

I should stop. Need more coffee. My madness is running out. LOL ***END OF COMMENT**
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

At the end of this blog I must mention probably the greatest of all scientists who laid the foundation of modern Science, especially Physics, Sir Isaac Newton. I forgot to mention him in my cursory list. Now, I will use an excerpt from my favourite book, ‘A Short History of nearly Everything’ in the words of Bill Bryson and let you enjoy:

”Newton was decidedly odd figure. Brilliant beyond measure but solitary, joyless, prickly to the point of paranoia, famously distracted…upon swinging his feet in the bed in the morning he would reportedly sometimes sit for hours immobilized by the rush of sudden thoughts to his head… and capable of most riveting strangeness; once he inserted a Bodkin, a long needle of the sort used for sewing leather into his eye socket and rubbed it around, ‘betwixt my eye and the bone as near to the backside of my eye as I could’ just to see what would happen. What happened miraculously was nothing…”

”Set atop these odd beliefs and quirky traits however was the mind of a supreme genius. Even working in the most conventional channels he often showed tendency to peculiarity. As a student frustrated by the limitations of conventional mathematics, he invented an entirely new form, the Calculus; but then told nobody else about it for 27 years.”

Aren’t you astounded!? I AM.

Current readings, thoughts and wondering what’s behind that cleavage?? July 20, 2007

Picture: Curiosity keeps the cat alive!

I am currently re-reading Bill Bryoson’s A short History of nearly everything. This is very much in the list of my top 5 books of all times and genres. I love to CONSUME it. So far I have read it in these forms: Illegally downloaded Pdf. file version of the book, the real book, the illustrated version of it, wonderful audio format of this book read by a great narrator… and soon I will get an abridged version of audio book, read by Bryson himself. Long live the public Libraries of Christchurch.

This book is the product of immense curiosity and delightful humor that Bryson has. In short this book is a layman’s guide to almost ALL fields, history of Science and origins of life on earth. Another great thing is since this book packs so much information and humor on every page, you can open it at any page and start reading any bits. Here is a little snippet from the opening of the book:

”Welcome and congratulations! I’m delighted that you could make it. Getting here wasn’t easy I know, in fact I suspect it was a little tougher than you realize. To begin with for you to be here now trillions of drifting atoms would somehow to assemble in an intricate and curiously obliging manner to create you. It’s an arrangement so specialized and particular that it has never been tried before and will only exist this once… Why atoms take this trouble is a bit of a puzzle. Being you is not a gratifying experience at the atomic level. For all their devoted attention your atoms don’t actually care about you. In fact they don’t even know that you’re there. They don’t even know that they are there.”

I chucked away a long intricate novel. Meaning of life dud. I suspect any author who writes LONG fiction and does not bother to edit it nicely and precisely is wasting readers’ time. But then I know MILLIONS of Harry Potter fans skip across 700 odd pages of typing… err. I mean writing. Ah, such devotion…. I’m such a bitch of a reader I’m afraid. Forgive me gods of knowledge and publishing industry.

Planned reading for this weekend: ”Mozart and Whale: an unexpected love story”. This book is a true love story of a guy and a girl who have one thing in common: Asperger’s Syndrome. Hmmm…

CLEAVAGE– Let’s get it over and done with. I wonder and wonder WHY in the name of whatever sooo many (if not most) women on the internet post their pictures with special shots of their exaggerated and purposefully naked cleavage and boobs etc. In all fairness, most of my few women pals on 360 don’t do it. Maybe that’s why they’re ”few”. lol

So… anyhoo… I mean these profiles are not about wanting sexual meetings… they are normal profiles and then there are these graphic or quite suggestive cleavage shots thrown in the mix. But wait…. this is not the whole story…. these women actually complain about and blast men wanting sex? For the love of gawd why would they have dandy display of their booby trap in the first place. To remind men of their mothers?

By the way, I asked the same question politely to a seemingly nice girl on the internet. She wrote back, ”Ummm… for fun…” and also promptly took off her boob picture.

So, I had to write to her, ” For fun? Oh Ok… I’m sorry to see that you’re not having any, anymore.”